Automatic telegraphy



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.. F. ANDERSON. AUTOMATIG TELEGRAPHY. No. 407,461 Patented July 23, 1889.

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F, ANDERSON.

AUTOMATIG TELEGRAPHY.

No. 407,461. Patented July 23, 1889'.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK ANDERSON, OF PEEKSKILL, NEXV YORK.

AUTOMATIC TELEGRAPHY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application filed February 9, 1889- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Peekskill, in the county of IVestchester, State of New York, have made a new and useful I11- vention in Telegraphy, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to im provements in that class of telegraphs known as automatic or stylographic telegraphs; and to this end it consists in an improved form of automatic telegraphic receiver.

The object of my invention is to produce a record upon a continuous sheet of paper in such a manner that it may be read as an ordinary paged book or paper is read, so that the record is made by a seriesof lines which indicate in sequence the characters transmitted, said characters being of the well-known Morse or equivalent type. I accomplish this object by the apparatus hereinafter described, 'and particularly pointed out in the claims which follow this specification.

In all automatic telegraphic receivers in general use with which I am familiar the record is produced upon sensitized paper or an equivalent receiving-strip, either in one continuous row extending in the direction of the length of the strip, or it is produced upon a cylindrical roll of paper in the nature of a spiral line also extending in a continuous line recorded from one end of the cylinder to the other, so that it is only possible to place a limited amount of record-paper upon the receiving-instrument.

My invention is designed to utilize sensitized or equivalent record=paper from a roll in the general manner in which paper is taken from the roll in the printing of newspapers, books, and other publications.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters represent like parts wherever used, Figure 1 represents an end elevation of my improved automatic telegraphic receiver. Fig. 2 represents a cross-sectional view on linen: 00,

Fig. 1, taken. through the body of the instrument, and showing the upper portion thereof in side elevation. Fig. 3 represents a detailed view of a modified form of the apparatus designed to form the received record in horizon- Patent No. 407,461, dated July 23, 1889.

Serial No. 299,264. (No model.)

is a detailed sectional view on line y y, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detailed view of a modified form of the contacting apparatus designed to repeat the portions of the record at the ends of the lines.

Referring to the drawings in detail, C represents the supporting-frame of the instrument, in which is journaled an axle a, to the outer end of which is affixed the receivingwheel A, which has attached to one of its spokes a handle R for rotating said wheel, or I may rotate it by any desired kind of power applied to the pulleys P, (shown in Fig. 2,) the rotation being of course kept in unison with the transmitting-wheel, of any desired form, either by any of the improved forms of governors, or, if rotated by hand, by making the same number of rotations of said instruments at both stations.

On the top of the frame C is an additional frame D, carrying the paper-feeding rollers e, f, and g, together with the paper-sustainis conducted under roll 9 in front of a metallic surface (I, up and between the feed-rolls e and f, the latter being connected by a cord or belt K with the pulley h on the main shaft a, two idle-pulleys h and 7? being provided to change the direction of said belt or cord around the large pulley H, carried by the feed-roll e.

The upper feed-roll f is journaled in two slotted bearings located on the opposite sides of the frame D, and is provided with a lifting device consisting of a rod extending from side to side parallel with the feed-roller and having a lifting-lever G, with a short-armed lever at its lower end, which, together with a similar short-armed lever affixed to the other end of the aforesaid rod, lift said feed-roll f out of contact with the paper Z and against the stress of the springs f and f The function of this apparatus is to prevent the paper from being fed forward when no messages are being transmitted, so that paper may not be wasted. In other Words, if an interval of time occurs while the apparatus is running in which no messages are being received, the operator may simply lift the upper feedroll from contact with the paper, and

tal or straight lines across the page. Fig. 4c

the feed of the paper is therefore stopped un ing roll E, from which the sensitized paper Z til the receiving apparatus indicates through the pens on the paper that an additional mes sage is being transmitted.

The wheel A ispreferably ol. metal, and has attached to its exterior surface a series of metallic sectors 7.), insulated from said wheel and from each other. Each of these sectors carries an arm 13, in the outer end of which is fixed, adjustably, by a set-scrcwt or other equivalent means, a conducting tamtaet-pen 0, set at an angle, as shown, so that when the wheel. is rotated to the right .in the direction of the arrow said pens will be brought succ essively into contact with the paper.

1' is a contact-spring insulated from the frame of the machine and adapted to bear successively upon the segmentsh as the wheel A is rotated in. the direction of the arrow. This spring connected to a binding-post ll, which in turn is connected by a wire 1/ to the main line runn ing to the distant station. (Not shown.)

(I is a flat metallic surface, against; which the paper is held. by the action of the feedrolls. This nietallic surface (I is insulated from the frame I), and is connected by a conductior It" to the earth, or by return-wire to the distant station, as desired.

The operation. is as lfollows: Suppose the transmitter (not shown) to have been set in motion at the distan't; station and the receiver to berotating at substantially the same rate of speed, either byhan d. or i )y power, as described. The lirst impulses transmitted over the line will pass by wire 11 to binding-post ll, eont'acts] n'ing 1', sector 7), arm 1"), pen (1, through the sensitized paper to the metallic surface (7, thence by wire 1/ to the earth. and to the dis tant station. All of the impulses which are transmitted through the first sector b will therefore be recorded in acurved line having a length substantially equal to the width of the paper. As long as the feed-roll f is held in contactwith the paper, and the lower feedrell c andv the receiving-wheel A are rotated, the paper will be fed forward with a continuous motion, and each pen as its particular sector comes in contact with the spring 1 will. make a record in the nature of a curved line, running from left to right across the face of the paper, during the time that said sector is under the contact-spring, so that the sixv pens shown in. the drawings, Fig. 1, will record in sequence six substantially concentric or parallel lines of characters, the left-hand ends of which will be slightlyhigher than their righthand ends, owing to the advance ol. the paper as it is fed 't'orward.

Of course it will be miderstood that the record-pens e make the record characters upon the sensitized. paper Z by the well-known manner in which an automatic receiving apparatus worksthat is to say by chemical. decomposition or equivalent means.

In Figs. 3 and I have shown a modiiied form. of the apparatus designed to produce the record in parallel lines, and this is accomplished. by making the rods :1 adjustable in the rim of the wheel. A, said rods having spiral springs s, which. bear against shoulders at their upper ends and against the surfaces of the sectors on the wheel at their lower ends, said rods of course being insulated from all portions 01: the wheel. A except the sectors, and provided at their lower ends with cam wheels or pulleys n, which, in the rotation of the wheel, ride under the cam-surface X, rigidly secured. to the frame ol the machine, the curvatmre ol' the cam-surface X. being of such a nature as to cause the pens e to make a record in a straight line, as clearly shown in Fig. 23. The special advantage of this Form lies in the i'act that it might be applied directly to either of the cylinders c or g ,t.hereb v dispensing with the metallic surface 1/, as it will be umlerstood, ol. course, that with such an arrangement; the record would be made upon an element ol the ey'liniler c. As the wheel. rotates in the direction ot' the arrow, and as the first pen strikes the paper, the cam-wheel '12 comes in contact with the surface X of the fixed cam, and. as said wheel continues to advance the pen advances, and is at the same time drawn downward, so that the record is made in horimntal lines, as clearly shown on. the paper Z, Fig.3 the construction. in this modilied form of the appzh ratus being in all other particulars essentially the same as that shown in l ig. I.

In liig. I have shown an arrangt'rmelit whereby the record will be duplicated tor a short space at each side ol. the paper, so that the translator thereof may aset'irtain. the correct beginning and ending of each line. With the arrangement shown in. Fig. .l, were a let 'ler having several. elements to be transmitted near the end of a line, it is possible that the elements of said letter might be divided between the right-hand side of the page in that line and the lei'l1hand side ot the page in the next succeeding line. 'ith the modilied form shown in .liig. 5 all elu'tracters will be duplicated at both sides of the page for a period of time dependent: on the distance between the two springs II and '1', which succeed each other in passing from sector to sector, and hence make a d upliratc record. This duplication of record would at once indicate to the translator the correct sequence of the whole number of characters.

.l'laving thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters 'Iatent of the United States, is-

:1. An automatic telegraphic receiver con sistingol. a record roll or supply oi. sensitizei'l paper or equivalent nntterial, with li'eeding mechanism for ulvancing said rcc n'd-paper according to the demands of the transmitting apparatus, and a series of independent roceiving-styluses connected to a wheel, said stylnses being insulated from each other and having electrical connections for bringing them successively into circuit as the wheel is rotated, substzmtially as described.

3. In an automatic telegraphic receiver, the

combination of a series of pens or styluses attached to a wheel or disk and having sliding motion in the direction of a radius of the disk, with a fixed cam for giving to said pens or styluses such sliding motion in succession, substantially as described.

4:. In an automatic telegraphic receiver, the combination of the following elements: a supply or roll of record-paper or analogous material, a series of record pens or styluses insulated from each other and adapted to come successively into contact with said record-pa per, feeding mechanism for advancing said paper, said mechanism consisting of a pair of feed-rolls, one of which is provided with means for lifting it from the paper and thereby preventing the forward feed, and electrical connections consisting of electrical conductingsegments, and a contact-spring adapted to rest thereon, as described, whereby either an entire message or a series of messages may be placed upon the record-paper and then the feed of the record-paper discontinued, substantially as described.

5. In an automatic telegraphic receiver, the combination of a series of pens carried by arms attached to independent sectors arranged around a disk and insulated therefrom, with a contacting surface and a recordsurface resting on said contacting surface, and a contact-spring, said contact-spring and contacting surface being included in an electrical circuit with the successive pens and sectors, whereby as said disk is rotated the pens are brought successively into the electrical circuit and successive record-lines are made, substantially as described.

6. In an automatic telegraphic receiver, a series of recording-pens rigidly secured to a wheel or disk by insulated contacting segments, in combination with a flat conductingsurface on which the record-paper rests, and a contactspring adapted to rest on the contacting segments successively, whereby a page-record is made transverse to the direction of motion of the record as it is fed forward, and with a margin on each side of the paper, substantially as described.

7. In an automatic telegraphic receiver, the combination of a rotary disk or wheel carrying a series of recording-pens rigidly secured thereto, said recording-pens being insulated from each other, substantially as described.

FRANK ANDERSON.

Witnesses L. V. HARWOOD, A. E. MQKECHNIE. 

